Lucknow:The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday conducted searches against an Uttar Pradesh-based real estate company as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank loan fraud and cheating of homebuyers, official sources said.
Officials of the federal agency covered premises linked to the Tulsiani Group in Lucknow, Meerut, Noida and Prayagraj apart from Gurugram in Haryana.
An office premise in the Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow, linked to a family member of BJP MLA from Harraiya (Basti) Ajay Singh, was also covered by the agency as part of the probe against the Tulsiani Group.
Tulsiani Group CMD Anil Tulsiani and his wife were earlier the directors of the Prayagraj-based company and there are new directors in this company now who are alleged to be linked to the BJP legislator, the sources said.
The ED is searching all the premises as part of gathering evidence on the charges of bank loan fraud and cheating of homebuyers by the company and its promoters, they said.
Singh told reporters that he got to know about the ED raids at his Lucknow office in the morning. "I am ready for any investigation... I was raided by the Income-Tax department too about three years back... I am a dedicated soldier of the BJP," he said.
"People say that the BJP only targets opposition parties but with this action against me, this claim has been proved wrong," he added. An email sent by PTI to the company did not elicit an immediate response.
The money laundering case against the Tulsiani Group and its promoters stems from an Uttar Pradesh Police FIR that was registered on a complaint filed by the Punjab National Bank (PNB), officials said.
In its complaint, PNB alleged a fraud of Rs 4.63 crore by the company. Tulsiani, who is also being investigated for "duping" homebuyers, was arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police and the Allahabad High Court had directed the ED to investigate the case, the sources said.
The federal anti-money laundering agency suspects that the "proceeds of crime" in this case are worth about Rs 10 crore. The realty group has constructed commercial and residential projects in Prayagraj and Lucknow and according to its website, it is undertaking similar projects in Meerut and Gurugram.
